Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2021

Clara Hirscher was born Aug. 2, 1859, in her parents’ home on Holmes Street in Shakopee. Her father was Frances Xavier Hirscher, and her mother was Philomina Roth Hirscher.

Clara remembered growing up during the Civil War. “The old First Street was a busy place when I was a child,” said Clara. “I remember the large steamboats that stopped at the levee and the bustle and confusion when passengers and freight were loaded and unloaded. The levee was the center of attraction in those days, and everybody went here to see what was going on.”

She also recalled the blue uniforms of soldiers who left to serve in the South. “You know in those days there were no electric or even gas lights, and most of the business places had four candles in their windows by way of illumination that night. Everyone thought it was quite a sight.”

Clara married Alexander Hattenberger on June 21, 1881. They moved to the Hattenberger farm in Glendale Township.

On the property is a natural phenomenon known as Ma-ka Yu-so-ta, which the Dakota Indians have been using for hundreds of years. The Hattenberger family called it Boiling Springs, but the original name is Ma-ka Yu-so-ta, the Mystery Lake of the Great Spirit, which is a ceremonial site for Dakota people.

According to a summary from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, the Dakota have a strong oral tradition detailing the cultural and spiritual significance of the Ma-ka Yu-so-ta and Eagle Creek. The stories tell of the springs being the center of the world, the place of the God of Waters and the Underworld.

One oral tradition says Eagle Creek received its name after an Eagle had flown out of the Ma-ka Yu-so-ta and turned into Buffalo Calf Women. She gave a sacred pipe to guide the Dakota.

The spring foretold of the Battle of Shakopee between the Dakota and the Anishinaabe in 1858 and continues to serve as a place for Dakota people to pray and find guidance.

Other historical records have noted the Dakota using the springs as a source for fish and wild game, a burial site, and the 1830s village near the mouth of the Credit River, known as Huyapa, or Eagle Head.

When the land around Eagle Creek opened to settler-colonists in the 1850s, the Hattenberger family purchased the land to farm. In addition to planting cash crops, the family created a park-like landscape around the springs. It became a countryside tourist picnic location with scenic overviews, ice cream, and other treats. Located in the beautiful Minnesota River Valley, it is 21 miles southwest of the Twins Cities.

The stories of the Dakota use of the springs and early settler stories of cows stuck in the quicksand around the springs added to the allure.

The description of “Boiling Springs” was given by the early white pioneers of the region, not because of the springs are hot, but for the peculiar action of the water and sands in the bed of the steam which resembles the action of boiling water.

The spring pool looks like yellow Italian marble, it is streaked with blue and occasionally with red, and at short intervals the sand at the bottom rises with sudden force. The water churns and foams into all sorts of peculiar shapes and forms, sometimes to the height of four or five feet.

In the early 1990s the Hattenberger farm was sold to a local homebuilder for a new subdivision. Concerned citizens voiced reservation. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community expressed the concern of the Dakota with a statement that the area, known as Ma-ka Yu-so-ta, should be preserved as a cultural resource.

Because of all the efforts, a corridor was created along the creek and around the springs. A buffer zone between the houses and the corridor protects the environment and provides privacy for ceremonial purposes.

Finally, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community noted: Ma-ka Yu-so-ta and Eagle Creek have been described as mysterious, a freak of nature, treasured trout stream and a tourist location. They are very powerful and their sacredness and beauty need to be protected and preserved.

Alexander Hattenberger died Jan. 26, 1912, at sixty years old, and was buried at the Catholic Cemetery in Shakopee.

Clara Hirscher Hattenberger died 19 years later, at age 72, on Nov. 26, 1931. She was buried next to her husband.